


Forever We'll Be

by orphan_account



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Ramen, Reunions, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 00:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11116533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sehun always thought that love was explosive and exciting and a little swoon-worthy, like a proposal caught on video. But sometimes love was just comfortable and warm—like butterflies in your stomach and steaming hot ramyun from a familiar shop on a wet and cold winter day.





	Forever We'll Be

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the story.
> 
> If you enjoy this, let me know!

He'd told his cohort he didn't want to go. Had told them he wasn't hungry; wasn't interested; wasn't in the mood for ramyun even though the weather was cold and perfectly suited for it. Sehun hadn't told them why, of course, because he kept his feelings, and his memories, and his first love close to his breast where he believed heartache was meant to be, but he had hoped they'd read between the lines and let him off. Just this once.

But meals with his fellow graduate students was always begged off with a "Maybe next time," and a "Just this once?" so the others had spared no pity and now there he was. Standing in the doorway of what used to be his favorite ramyun shop, and wondering why he always ended up right where he didn't want to be.

Like in Seoul when he was a Busan boy, through and through. Or in a prestigious Masters of Business program when his true passions were more along the lines of medicine and government aid.

Or in love with Luhan, for instance—how on earth had Sehun ended up there? He'd thought he loved him, once upon a time when he was young and had no other experiences so he could know better. Luhan had been everything Sehun wanted and when the Chinese boy had gone, their breakup had gutted him. Years later, Sehun's thoughts drifted to his first love very rarely, but in places like _their_ ramyun shop, Luhan was particularly easy to remember.

What was it about Luhan that had made Sehun love him? He was years older and much more mature, but even now Sehun didn't know.

For that matter, had he truly loved Luhan at all? Grown-up Sehun didn't know that either.

Was it even possible to love another human being during a time when you struggled to love yourself? That was the question—out of all of them—that most plagued Sehun now, as he stood dripping wet in the doorway of the familiar shop and tried to pretend that the chill he felt reached only to his toes and not into his heart.

"Over here!" He heard his sunbae call cheerfully, waving him over when Sehun looked up to find the voice. He joined the others around their table and tried to laugh as raucously as the rest while they joked over bottles of cheap soju and waited for their food. His heart, though, wasn't in it, and he found himself counting down from when the waiter took their order to how quickly their food would come.

His sunbae caught the anxious drumming of his fingers against the wooden table, and told Sehun to chill out, just this once. There was that phrase again, the one that got him into this uncomfortable mess of memories in the first place. Just this once, what Sehun really wanted was for his sunbaes to leave him be. Which they did, once the ramyun was delivered piping hot to their table exactly 17 minutes and 23 seconds later.

Not that Sehun had been counting or anything, but he'd needed _something_ to take his mind of the _how's_ and _why's_ and _did I even's_ that always appeared when thoughts of Luhan swarmed his brain.

The food was good; different than he remembered, but somehow still wonderfully familiar, like meeting an old friend you'd forgotten you missed. He savored each bite, knowing this was the last time he'd come to this place; knowing that no amount of "Just this once" would bring him back again.

His sunbaes continued to joke around him, passing tasty mouthfuls of samples back and forth and filling each other's drinks good naturedly since they all realeased Sehun was in no state to be the polite maknae society demanded. They smiled and nodded and thanked the waiter, and one boisterously requested the presence of the new owner so he could be properly praised for the virtues of his establishment.

Sehun snorted at his sunbae's flare, but knew the damage of alcohol to one's inhibitions and wasn't surprised by the request. His fingers resumed their rhythmic movements across the wood as his brain began to count down once more—though this time it was the potential time for the owner to arrive, the potential duration of his and the sunbae's conversation; and finally the amount of time left before it would be acceptable for someone who was already behaving incredibly rudely to leave without saying goodbye.

The butterflies came suddenly, and sort of like an expected surprise, making his fingers pause in mid-air and his brain stumble in its temporal numerations. Sehun looked up, not sure he was ready to face the man he was sure he would see, but not really knowing what else to do when his body and his heart had so clearly already decided.

The person in front of him was definitely Luhan—Sehun had known that already—but where he had known a boy, a man now stood in his place. His first love hadn't grown much—his face still had the sweet smile and doe-eyes that had captured Sehun's attention so completely all those years ago—but something about his stature, about the way he held himself, spoke of a confidence Luhan hadn't possessed when they were dating. He and Sehun had wanted to find confidence together—in themselves and in each other—and it seemed to Sehun that Luhan had at least managed that for himself.

Luhan, for his part, recognized Sehun instantly—the younger saw it in his eyes. He smiled and his eyes crinkled at the edges while Sehun's walls crumbled and his heart wept tears of joy.

Maybe he had loved Luhan after all. Maybe it didn't matter so much the reason, and just that he had. And Luhan, Sehun knew, had loved him too.

Loved him in a way that Sehun couldn't comprehend, hadn't understood, and didn't know how to reciprocate. He did his best but country lines are a good test for endurance and strength—two things of which their relationship apparently had very little. Yet here they were, together again in their favorite ramyun shop, on a cold winter day much like when they first met, and facing each other for the first time in years.

That was fate, Sehun thought. And _just this once_ , he wondered, maybe love didn't have to be dramatic and painful and hard; not when the mere reappearance of Luhan in Sehun's life felt like this—so warm and comfortable and _perfect_.


End file.
